Guided Imagery for PTSD to Heal Past Trauma

Trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder may come from a number of sources, such as emotional, physical or sexual abuse, combat or a natural disaster. While many of us carry wounds of our past through life and struggle the heal, there are avenues that can help you on your road to recovery. Traditional PTSD treatment typically includes talk therapy and medication, although research has been turning to another approach called guided imagery for PTSD, a safe, natural method that allows you to heal without re-traumatization.

Guided imagery can help you bypass the road blocks you have set up within yourself using nothing more than an mp3 or CD player, headphones and a quiet, comfortable setting. Through this form of meditation or guided visualization, you can begin to heal your wounds from the inside and finally move past your pain without discussing these painful events or bringing back the hard emotions.

Guided imagery is also medically endorsed and it helps victims of PTSD even when traditional approaches fail. This type of meditation helps to target the part of your mind that's affected and use healing imagery to re-engage the brain and encourage healing.

Why Guided Imagery? When we are young, we tend to bring up mental images to help us feel safe and navigate through a world that can seem too scary. Imagery is a natural part of the healing process to move past trauma. Once you've gone through a traumatizing event, your brain becomes hard-wired to respond in a different way than it once did and you must achieve an inner calm before your mind can focus on the words of therapy. Here are some reasons that make guided imagery and effective and powerful healing tool.

Guided imagery can be used to restore the brain's biochemical balance.

Meditation and guided visualization may be used safely at any time and anywhere to give you a sense of control that you need.

Meditation gives you an immediate form of comfort and soothes the mind so you can finally let go.

Trauma can easily create a disassociation and this may be transformed into an effective tool for healing.

Conscious disassociation with guided imagery helps you gain your awareness of leaving the self and returning to the present, which is very grounding.

Guided imagery and meditation is also backed by studies, including the use of guided imagery to help active duty soliders recover from PTSD.

Guided imagery is really an effective way to get to the heart of the issue and the real cause for your suffering without the risk of more trauma or pain. Abuse or traumatic memories have a way of dominating your entire life and working their way into everything, potentially damaging relationships, work and your feelings of self-worth.

Whether you've tried and failed to use traditional methods or you're at the start of your journey to healing, try guided imagery for PTSD to put your pain behind you.